We just got some great news.

At this point, we've picked up at least three seats in the Wisconsin Assembly, and there is a possibility for more gains as well.

It's an historic night. These victories will give us control of both chambers.

Going into November, Democrats in Wisconsin need to pick up three seats in the state assembly to control the chamber. That might have changed yesterday afternoon.

The deadline for submitting nomination papers was set for six o'clock, and Rep. Jeff Wood -- a Republican -- filed to run as an Independent. If he wins his election (and right now, he doesn't face an opponent from either major party), he will caucus with the Democrats. From the local coverage:

At the state level, Wood has a history of splitting from his party on some votes, the most prominent example coming last year when he was the lone Republican to vote against the Assembly Republicans' state budget proposal. He argued that it was more of a partisan gimmick than a serious budget.

Wood, a former member of the Libertarian Party of the Chippewa Valley, also believes the Republican Party has closed ranks and moved away from its more inclusive "big tent" philosophy of the 1990s.

He considers himself a case in point, maintaining he has been blacklisted to a degree by GOP leaders for not always voting the party line.

An example of the payback, he said, came when he asked to be taken off the Assembly Workforce Development Committee but instead was named its chairman. Then party leaders sent almost no bills to the panel.

"If there's not room for disagreement in this party, then there's not room for me," Wood said.

Under Wisconsin state law, Republicans still have one opportunity to mount a challenge against Woods by attracting enough write-in votes for a new candidate in the September primary. But doing that requires committing resources and organizing that the GOP wasn't anticipating.

No matter what, Democrats are still in a better situation today than they were yesterday.